Join me as I service a pristine, literally time-capsule-quality Sansui AU-8500 integrated amplifier. This one even blew me away!
Welcome back, everyone and greetings to my Sansui readers and owners in particular, as this one is especially for you. George is the lucky owner of this piece and a long-term and very loyal Liquid Audio customer. We love George, and we love George’s Sansui AU-8500, for several reasons, not the least of which are that George never let the recappers get to this one, nor did George want me to do anything to this lovely, original amplifier, beyond what it actually needed. Bravo George!
Sansui AU-8500 Specifications
Courtesy of HiFi Engine
- Power output: 60 Watts per channel into 8Ω
- Frequency response: 15Hz to 30kHz
- Total harmonic distortion: 0.1%
- Damping factor: 50
- Input sensitivity: 2.5mV (mic), 2.5mV (MM), 100mV (DIN), 100mV (line)
- Signal-to-noise ratio: 65dB (mic), 75dB (MM), 85dB (line)
- Output: 100mV (line), 30mV (DIN), 0.8V (Pre out)
- Speaker load impedance: 4Ω to 16Ω
- Semiconductors: 58 x transistors, 2 x FET, 33 x diodes, 5 x zener diodes
- Dimensions: 140 x 500 x 347mm
- Weight: 20.5kg
Features
There are a lot of things to love about the Sansui AU-8500 integrated amplifier. This model came at a time when Sansui was building things almost as well as Accuphase, and that is saying something. When you look at his and compare it to, say, the equivalent Accuphase E-202, an amplifier I have worked on dozens of examples of over the years, there is little between them in terms of build quality.
Yes, the E-202 is the slightly more powerful and, I think, better-sounding amplifier, but it weighs about the same, and if you compare the specs below, you’ll see they are actually very similar on paper. The 40W power differential represents only about 2.2dB, which is theoretically less than audible, so these are more closely matched than you may realise. That said, the beefier E-202 power supply and better parts quality no doubt contribute to its superb sonic performance.
Accuphase E-202 Specifications, again, courtesy of HiFi Engine
- Power output: 100 watts per channel into 8Ω (stereo)
- Frequency response: 20Hz to 20kHz
- Total harmonic distortion: 0.15%
- Damping factor: 50
- Input sensitivity: 2.5mV (MM), 160mV (line)
- Signal-to-noise ratio: 74dB (MM), 80dB (line)
- Speaker load impedance: 4Ω to 16Ω
- Semiconductors: 53 x transistors, 4 x FET, 44 x diodes, 2 x thermistors
- Dimensions: 455 x 152 x 355mm
- Weight: 19.5kg
In terms of features, the Sansui AU-8500 has most of the things the owner of an integrated amplifier would want, including three sets of speaker terminals, bass, midrange and treble tone controls and associated filters, two tape loops, phono preamp, rear panel fuses, rear panel power outlets, multivoltage capability, MM cartridge loading adjustment, and it goes on.
Later models like the Sansui AU-9900 and Sansui AU-11000 looked and performed better in my opinion, but the Sansui AU-8500 truly is a comprehensive integrated amplifier. Whilst it will never perform as well as the Sansui BA-5000 I’ve just repaired for another lucky BA-5000 owner (plus CA-3000 of course), more on that story when I get a chance, the AU-8500 performs about as well as one can expect from an integrated amplifier of this vintage.
Service
As mentioned, George is the owner of this one and has been having a few health issues, so if we can send a collective get-well energy beam to George, I know he would appreciate that 🙂. Anyway, George bought this from the original owner, and that owner cared for it just as well as George has.
This AU-8500 still has its protective blue film on the front bezel surfaces and all the original factory labelling, cards etc. The unit itself had a layer of grease and grime on it that we sometimes see on older gear, but apart from that, she only needed careful cleaning, switch and control service and a very careful electronic adjustment, so let’s go.
As usual, feel free to watch my detailed accompanying video on the Liquid Audio YouTube channel, as it contains some details I ommited here, and vice versa:
On with the inspection and service of this baby!
Results
As you might expect, George was stoked when he got this and remained as enthusiastic as I explained her almost perfect, museum-grade condition in my inspection report, and when he collected this stunner.
There isn’t really much more one can say about a piece like this, except that I made him promise that, if he gave this to his son as he planned to, to emphasise the importance of never taking her to a recapper, or anyone who felt that just ripping everything out and replacing it without any testing was a good idea!
Pieces like this Sansui AU-8500 are increasingly rare or even impossible to find in this original condition. This alone is reason enough to leave well alone, but there are many others. Many fail to understand what should be replaced, when, and why. Many damage boards, traces, throw away irreplaceable parts, install faults, the list goes on. Much better to do absolutely nothing than terrible work that can’t be undone.
I strongly encourage all who’ve not yet understood the concept that less is more in most cases to really have a good think about why keeping equipment as original as possible, whilst also attending to the unique needs of each piece, is such a worthwhile philosophy. And yes, this means that I am actively reducing my earnings on jobs like this. Think about that…
Thank You
As always, thank you for visiting, and thanks to George for entrusting this beautiful amplifier with me and for supporting Liquid Audio over many years. I hope you enjoyed reading about another classic piece of hi-fi equipment. If you’d like me to look at your Sansui AU-8500 or any other Sansui or quality Japanese integrated amplifier, don’t hesitate to get in touch.
A ton of work goes into creating these articles, and it’s all done in my time off. You can support my efforts to spread the word about beautiful hi-fi equipment and keep it alive by engaging our services, commenting, liking, sharing, subscribing, spreading the word and donating, using the button in the footer. You can also view our supportive legends on the new page dedicated to them.
Discover more from LiQUiD AUDiO
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Ah, a Sansui article from Liquid Mike! Excellent and thankyou!!
Firstly, very best wishes to George and his family for good health and fun times listening to this lovely vintage ‘Sui. And our thanks that he’s happy to share his lovely AU-8500 with us in this way.
Secondly, best wishes for your own return to good health, Liquid Mike! We really appreciate the time and effort you put into your articles and videos.
As you are only too well aware, there is a lot of “stuff” out there that encourages well-intentioned and enthusiastic amateurs to tinker with their beautiful vintage stereo gear. Oher factors influencing this are the shortage of suitably qualified professional technicians and owners’ perception of saving money and waiting time by DIY. Perhaps the parallel with “tear down and rebuild” restorations of older cars and motorbikes and popular videos about these are also factors in encouraging a perception that recapping etc is “just like doing up an old car, only much easier”.
Most of us can do a good job of baking a cake to a recipe found on the internet, and if we get it wrong we can chuck it out and make a fresh one. However, we should be wary of extending this approach to vintage electronic equipment containing parts that are difficult or impossible to replace if damaged or just thrown out because “they’re old and newer is always better”. Such an approach is even more ill-advised when paying for it to be performed by someone who claims to have done exactly the same ill-informed thing scores of times, rather than identifying specific problems in each unique case and addressing only those, and who can’t cite what professional training or qualification they have earned.
Thanks for educating us on the beauty of this beast, while restating the case for proper identification and assessment of what real problems exist, and treating the symptoms and underlying causes only as needed rather than “rip it all out because that’s what a YouTube video with 231 likes said to do”.
And a professional who argues for less and better targeted use of their services is a welcome and responsible voice to be respected and admired!
Thanks so much, Robert. I’m pleased you enjoyed this one and, of course, that you understand exactly where I am coming from! Most of us like to DIY things, I think, and the cars and motorcycles analogy is the perfect one. Wanting and being able to actually do useful work on a car or motorcycle are two completely different things. I’ve lost track of how often I’ve found stripped and missing fasteners, broken and damaged parts on cars and motorcycles, just as I do with the electronics I work on here. Sadly, other technicians are often the worst culprits!